Unsung Heroes Red Version: Latias' Story
by shadowlugia249
Summary: Part 2 of 2. A young girl befriends an ancient creature called Latias. The world is put in danger. And Latias has a secret to hide... Now updated.


**Unsung Heroes Red Version: Latias' Story**

_By shadowlugia249_

My name is Latias… or that's what they call me now. I didn't think that my life would ever be interesting; but that was before I traveled to the isolated city of Altomar.

Back then, my name was Terra and I had just graduated high school. I had saved up my graduation money for a vacation to the watery city of Altomar. I had heard that there was machine there that was rumored to be a device that had once ruled the world.

Besides that, there was a legend floating around the city that two bizarre creatures had risen up to stop the machine using a power of an ancient relic called the "Soul Dew". I've always been interested in folk lore and I wanted to find out as much as I could about the machine and the two creatures that had stopped it.

Well, the machine wasn't too hard to find; they had devoted an entire museum to hold it! From what I read, it was called the "World Revolution", but it had remained dormant for millennia. I can't really describe what it looked like without you actually being there.

I was examining a round pedestal marked with the words: "Latias or Latios will power the World Revolution" when I saw a girl walk up to the pad. If I didn't know better, I could have sworn that she was my identical twin! She had the same green shirt that I had and identical red hair. When she walked by, I could have sworn that she winked at me!

From what I knew, I did not have a twin _or_ a sister, so I followed her out of the museum and into the streets of Altomar that were above water.

I saw the girl walking through a street when I saw the girl running away from something. I saw a boat with two people in it chasing after her. From what I could tell, they were two police officers and were trying to arrest her. While she ran, I thought I saw her throw something into the canal.

Feeling a sense of regret, I followed after them. They were following her wherever she went, but finally lost her in an alley when she disappeared into a dead end. Not wanting to mistake myself for her, I backed off.

What was that all about? Were they actually after me? Or was my "twin" wanted for something that _she_ had done. Regardless, I headed back in the direction of my hotel.

As I walked, I passed the location where the girl had dropped something in the canal. I instinctively looked in the water, and to my amazement, I saw that there was a round, glowing item in the water. Making sure that no one was looking, I took off my backpack and dove into the water. I swam down and saw that the item was a fist-sized glass ball with a glowing blue flame inside it. I reached out my hand to grab it when another hand grabbed it at the same time.

I looked at the person who owned the hand and nearly inhaled a mouthful of water. The hand belonged to a bizarre creature that I had never seen before! But before I could get a good look at it, my lungs needed air immediately. I grabbed the orb and swam to the surface. However, I passed out before I reached it from the lack of oxygen.

I woke up in my hotel room some time later. I wondered what had happened to me while I was out. The last thing I remember was looking into the eyes of a bizarre creature before passing out underwater.

"You nearly drowned back there."

I freaked out when I saw my twin from before sitting on a chair next to my bed.

"Who-?! Who _are_ you?! Why do you look like me?!"

"I'm sorry; I've been following you for a while. My name is Latias."

She put out her hand for me to shake.

""Latias"? What kind of name is that? And why do you look like me?"

"I'm a shape-shifter. I copied you because I like you. My brother is one, too. His name is Latios."

"Say what?"

"Latias" shook her head and grinned. "Maybe I'd better show you what I mean."

She stood up and closed her eyes. I watched in disbelief as she glowed white and changed shape! The white light surrounding her changed to what looked like a… dragon?

However, it wasn't a dragon shape that I recognized. Her red body was rounded near the bottom with two long, red "wings" near her "shoulders". She didn't have any real "legs" but had two jagged "feet" where her legs were supposed to be. However, the lack of legs didn't seem to bother her as she seemed to "hover" in mid-air. Latias had small, thin arms with a type of pad around her upper arms. At the tip of the pads were three pointed claws on each "hand".

I looked at her beautiful long, white neck with a round, red flash on her head. Behind that were two pointed "ears" and two kind, orange eyes were looking at me with kindness in them.

Latias looked at me with a smile on her face. _What do you think?_

I was completely speechless. I had _never_ seen a creature as bizarre and oddly-shaped as Latias before.

"What… happened to you?"

I immediately gasped and clapped a hand to my mouth. That was _the_ rudest thing that I had ever said! To my complete amazement, Latias chuckled and spoke to me in my mind!

_It's okay; I get asked that all the time._

"Oh." Regardless, I thought about my next words. "Why were those police officers after you?"

Latias suddenly looked grave. She hung her head and said, _They weren't police officers. They were after mine and my brother's treasure, the Soul Dew. They want it to power the World Revolution._

"That's terrible!" I said, outraged. "But why are you with me instead of protecting your brother?"

_Latios can take care of things. Besides, I needed to make sure that the Soul Dew was safe. Speaking of which…_

Latias held out her hand and a red ball of light materialized into the glass orb that I had tried to retrieve from the canal.

_I need you to protect this with your life! The fate of the world depends on it._

I took the Soul Dew from her and looked at it. It felt slightly cool in my hands. "I'll do my best."

_Thank you,_ said Latias, bowing her head. _I have to check on Latios. I'll be back soon enough._

Latias closed her eyes and turned back into her human form. She then shook my hand and said, _You're really lucky; People like you are once in a lifetime, and I've been around along time. Well, I'll see you soon, Terra._

How did she know my name? I never told it to her. Before I could ask, Latias had left.

Now I had a duty to complete. I had to make sure that this… Soul Dew thing was kept safe. It must have been very valuable for Latias to keep it from those "false" police officers. I decided to wrap it in the paper from a snow globe that I bought and place in its box.

After I had cleverly disguised it, I went back outside.

I must have slept through the night when Latias brought me back to my hotel room because the sun was barely in the sky right now. Nevertheless, I decided to go watch the speedboat races today. I bought a ticket and found a seat near the starting line, which was nearly underwater.

As the boats lined up to get ready to start, I could have sworn that I saw a figure hovering behind the boats. I wasn't sure because the figure was mostly invisible except that it seemed to bend the light around it so that you could see through it. It looked 95 transparent. It looked like…

"Latias?"

Latias either heard me or saw me because she looked at me and floated my way. She flew close to me and appeared to be examining me.

_You can see me?_ It was a voice in my head, but this one was clearly male.

"Uh, yeah."

_Don't speak out loud,_ said the male voice. _Don't look at me either. You'll draw attention to the both of us. Speak the words in your head instead._

I did as he said and looked at the boats getting ready to leave the starting line.

_You're not Latias?_

_Of course not! I am Latios, Latias' brother. How is it that you know my sister?_

_She saved my life yesterday and gave me something called the Soul Dew._

Latios sounded outraged at my last comment.

_A human has the Soul Dew?! I told her not to give it to anyone! What are you doing with it, human?_

I flinched at the rage that Latios was projecting into my mind. _She just told me to protect it! That's all!_

I_ will be the judge of that! Hold still or I will search you my way._

I whimpered as I kept completely still, still not looking at Latios' camouflaged form. I felt a small, clawed hand on top of my head. I prayed that he wasn't going to hurt me.

I felt another presence in my mind. Latios must be psychic to be able to enter my mind like this! Anyway, I could feel him perusing my thoughts as if he was sifting through a file cabinet of my memories. He overlooked most of them, but paused at the ones where Latias was involved.

One of memories left my mind while he read it, taking his time. It involved Latias being inside my hotel room, showing me her true form and giving me the Soul Dew. I could sense his distaste when he replaced the memory and said, _You speak no lies, human._

_Thanks._

_I warned Latias about meddling in the affairs of humans before, but she neverlistens to me._

_Latios! Leave her alone!_

Another voice that I recognized as Latias' joined our conversation. I automatically looked to my left and saw that another semi-invisible figure was hovering next to Latios.

_She would _never_ use the Soul Dew to power the World Revolution!_ Latias berated her brother. _How _dare_ you even consider her one of them!_

The fighting between these two must have been going on for a long time because they seemed to know how to push each other's buttons.

_I was merely making sure that the Soul Dew was not in danger, sister,_ said Latios with a mental scoff. _You know how I am with these people._

Latias flew over and tickled my cheek with her tongue. _Don't mind him. He's always distrusted humans since the last time the World Revolution was activated._

_I still don't trust them!_ barked Latios, flying away into the city.

"Tough nut, eh?" I asked Latias out loud.

_Always._

Latias flew off to follow her brother. I shook my head and chuckled. I had always argued with my older brother, but he and I get along much better now that we're both out of school.

I then noticed something. As the boats in the race motored off, I saw two people, a teenage boy and girl, looking through binoculars in my direction. At first, I thought they were Peeping Toms, but then I saw the girl motion to the boy and they ran off in the direction that Latias and Latios and flown off to.

Conscience was getting the best of me. Ignoring the race, I decided to follow them.

I lost them both in the same dead-end that I had followed them to the last time. There was absolutely nowhere for them to go. This time, I decided to investigate a little further. Walking up to the wall, I put a hand on it…

…and it went straight through it! It was a fake! It was just a hologram! Feeling confident, I ran straight through it.

I ended up in a massive garden made of white marble ruins and various vegetation. Unfortunately, I didn't look at it much further because the sounds of gunfire diverted my attention. Someone was attacking something! I saw that the boy and girl from before were firing odd, net-like lasers at…

"Latias! Latios!" I saw the two creatures trying to fly away from the pair, but Latios had already been surrounded by a plasma net.

_Fly, Latias!_ shouted Latios. _Forget about me!_

But Latias, as always, chose not to heed her brother's words. She was firing neon beams of energy at the boy and girl in an attempt to protect her brother. In her effort, the girl fired a blast of energy from her gun which slammed into her. She landed near me in a massive heap.

"Catch it, Brian!" screamed the girl, pointing at Latias. "Catch it!"

If that boy fired that plasma net in my direction, it would spell doom for both Latias and I. I ran over to Latias to protect her. However, the boy seemed to be fighting with his conscience on whether to shoot or not.

"What are you doing?! Shoot them!"

Against all odds, the boy turned the gun on his own teammate and fired!

"Run away!" he yelled at us. "I'll take care of her!"

_Come… on._

Latias managed to get in the air and grabbed me by the shoulders. I was caught off guard as my feet left the ground. Her small arms had a pretty good grip on me while we soared towards the outskirts of Altomar.

"Latias? Are you okay?"

_No… I… must… get you… to safety!_

"But won't people see us?"

_You're… right._

Latias managed to use her camouflaged power and was able to extend it to me, turning me into a human chameleon.

We reached the grasslands a few minutes later. Latias couldn't fly much farther and we crashed into the ground. She looked in pretty bad shape. Nothing looked broken, but I'm sure that her internal injuries were pretty severe. She wasn't even able to stay hovering in the air

"Latias! We need to get you to a hospital or a vet!" I was beside myself with panic.

_No… it's too late for me._ She looked at me with her kind, orange eyes. _I… need… a successor._

"What do you mean?"

_The world won't be in balance… unless there is one of me… and one of my brother. There must be… a Latias… and a Latios… in order to keep order…_

Suddenly, a ripple of red energy washed over Latias like a miniature wave.

"Latias!"

_Please! You must… receive my blessing… I _beg_ of you!_

I guess I didn't have a choice in this matter.

"All right! I'll do it!"

_Thank you… Terra._

Latias' eyes glowed a bright red as a beam of solid red light branched off from her body and slammed into me. Instantly, my mind went blank and my body began to change its shape and form.

My torso swelled out and my legs shrunk to limbs similar to Latias'. I could feel something growing from my shoulders and somehow I knew that I had grown a strange new set of wings. Along with that, my arms shriveled up slightly to mimic Latias' as well. My neck and head changed next. The former stretched to an extended length while the latter shifted and became slightly pointed. Two ear-like extensions grew from the back of it as well. You might think that I had turned into a smaller version of myself, but I was actually slightly bigger than I was before.

All the while, the limits my mind began to expand well beyond their normal capabilities. I started to understand things that I never even knew before. Even more, I felt as if I had become a genius! Not only that, but I felt a force unlike any other enter my mind. It sounded like voices that were always conversing and feelings that I didn't understand right away. These must be the voices of the planet that Latias once told me about. With that, I could feel the life forces of everything around me as if they were my own.

Finally, ages and ages of teachings began to fill my mind. Things that I had never given a second thought to before now became common knowledge to me. Latias must have spent millennia learning the ways of the things she was teaching me now.

My transformation complete, Latias released me and I remained suspended in the air, recovering. I had actually _become_ Latias both in mind and body! The only thing that remained of my human life was what made me… me. I went over to the fallen Latias and put my hand on her neck.

_Latias?_ I said in my new psychic voice. I let out a purr-like chirp that I assumed was Latias' normal voice.

_No…_ she said simply. _Not anymore. I am Terra… you're former being… but my purpose in this life has been fulfilled. I will pass on… to the next life… in peace._

She finally looked me in the eye and I watched as her form shifted to a human form identical to my former one. It then hit me that Terra the human was alive no longer. In her place was Latias, Guardian of the world.

"Protect the Soul Dew," said my former self. "And make sure the World Revolution remains dormant. Then… I will rest in peace. Good… bye."

I didn't look away as my old life dissolved into little bursts of green light. The lights spread out and floated freely into the air where they finally disappeared into the afterlife.

I said a silent prayer in the former Latias' honor and hovered there for a while. What was I going to do now? I had been given this new existence with no idea what to do next. I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to live out my new life.

Suddenly, I felt a new presence in my mind. Not only that, but my eyes lit up and projected a vision into the surrounding area. What was going on? What was this new power?

_Sight Sharing, _my instincts told me. _I am seeing exactly what Latios is seeing right now._

I was looking through Latios' eyes at the inside of a glass prison in a building somewhere. There was barely enough room in the chamber for me… _us_ to move. I _did_ manage to look to my right at a figure in a similar glass chamber.

_You are not Latias, _said a voice that I recognized as Latios'. _What happened to her?_

_Latias was so weak that she didn't survive that ordeal, _I told him. _Before she died, though, she passed her powers onto me to keep her legacy going._

_I see. I never thought I'd see the day when the Crossover would have to be performed. Thank you… Latias. You must find us… before our time is up._

The vision ended and I was looking through my own eyes again. Latios… my _brother_, I realized now, was dying as well! His only chance, like mine, was to send his powers into the boy that was right next to him.

I didn't understand. Latios hated everything to do with humans. Why would he risk his life giving himself to this human boy in order to save him?

But then I realized that a Latias without a Latios or vice-versa would tip the balance of the world into chaos. He really didn't have a choice in the matter.

I also realized that in order to maintain the balance, the Soul Dew needed to be protected. That single glass ball contained the chaos and havoc that Latias and Latios had spent ages trying to contain. If that globe was used to power the World Revolution, all hell would break loose.

Speaking of which… I flew over to the tattered remains of my clothes and rummaged through my backpack. It then struck me as odd that I was completely naked! However, clothes didn't seem to bother me anymore. After all, I never saw Latias or Latios wearing anything in their true forms.

_Aha!_ I pulled out the Soul Dew, completely intact. There were no scratches or marks on it that risked it being damaged. In fact, upon closer inspection, I thought I could see the face of Latias looking back at me. So, _that's_ why they called it the "Soul Dew"; it also contained the souls of the former Latias and Latios to keep the chaos inside in check. Huh.

I made to put the Soul Dew in my pocket… but I didn't have any! How did Latias hold onto it in this form? I then remembered that she had used some of her psychic powers to summon it back in my hotel room; so I tried that. I focused my mind into storing the Soul Dew somewhere safe. The globe glowed brightly in a bright red aura… and vanished. Where did it go?

I finally looked at the blue triangle-shaped mark on my chest and saw that there was a tiny, blue spot in the center of the mark. You could see it, but only if you looked directly at it.

Now that the Soul Dew was tucked away, I turned my attention to finding my… brother. I could tune into his mind and find out exactly where he was – somewhere in Altomar.

I took to the air for the first time on my own and headed back to the flooded city.

I quickly learned how to adapt as Latias once I reached Altomar. If I wanted to blend in with the crowd, all I had to do was picture the form of a person that I wanted to become and I became a flawless carbon copy of whoever I wanted. There were just two problems with this ability: I couldn't use my new psychic powers while in human form and I had to be sure not to run across my current person's counterpart in the streets; there would just be too many questions if someone saw their twin walking down the road.

If I wanted to fly through the city in my true form without being seen, I found that I could mimic Latias' chameleon-like ability and bend the light around me so that I could adapt to the area around me. Not only that, but my psychic abilities worked much better in my true form.

After some perusing of the city, I remembered that Latias and I had been underwater when we first met. On a personal dare, I decided to see how long I could hold my breath. Taking a big gulp of air, I plunged into the sunken canals of Altomar.

Amazingly enough, my new form worked quite well underwater. My wings could cut through the water with little to no drag at all. I also found out that I could go up to an hour underwater on a single breath's worth of air. If I took a _really_ big breath, I could last up to 90 minutes without oxygen. Cool!

I got so wrapped up in learning the ways of a Latias that I momentarily forgot to activate my camouflage after flying out of a canal. Fortunately, the only person who saw me was a girl in a black uniform with a pair of special binoculars.

Uh-oh.

If I had stopped to take a closer look at this girl, I would have noticed that it was the same one that had been with the boy in the hidden garden.

The girl didn't need to look through her binoculars to recognize an authentic Latias when she saw one. She pulled out a walkie-talkie and called her partner.

"Melody, this is Ginger. I think we've found our Lati."

"Oh, good!" said another girl on the other end. "Where's it headed?"

"It's headed for the City Square. Deploy the traps – it's not going anywhere this time."

"Will do. Out."

I had finally gotten my head on straight and decided to start looking for Latios. I could sense him somewhere in the City Square; I just didn't know where to look. Drifting lazily over the city, I spotted a man in a black suit similar to the boy and girl in the garden outside a run-down building. Bingo!

I soared down to the square and was suddenly hit with a blast of energy! Oh God, it hurt so much! It felt as if my body was surrounded by an electrical barrier that rendered my levitating ability useless.

I tried to wriggle free of the net that had surrounded me, but it only increased the pain. I soon landed with a hard _thump_ on the concrete below. At this time of night, there were no people out in the streets, so I wasn't noticed except for a girl with a ponytail in a black suit.

I let out a cry of pain as the net bit down on me and looked at the girl who, to my surprise, had a grin on her face.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," she sneered at me. "We missed our chance with the other one, but _you_ probably have it."

I realized that she meant the Soul Dew. The girl radioed her partner.

"Ginger, we got it. Meet back at HQ in five minutes."

I don't know what happened, but I must have blacked out from the pain.

_Ohh… what happened? I felt like I just went on a skydive without a parachute._

_You're in Tetra HQ._

I looked around. I was in a glass cylinder prison like Latios and the boy had been. To my right was none other than Latios himself.

_Brother?_

_I don't know… Things have been really weird for me ever since that Latios transferred his powers into me._

I blinked and put my claws on the glass. _You're that boy that stunned his partner in that garden._

The Latios looked at me as well. _And you're that girl that that Latias flew off with!_

_Yeah… my name is Terra… uh, I guess it's "Latias" now._

_I'm Brian, aka "Latios". Nice to meet you._

_Nice to meet you, too. Why are we in here?_

Brian/Latios looked away. _A group of terrorists called the "Tetra" plan to use us to power the World Revolution and take over the world._

_Why do they need us?_ I wondered. _Don't they need the Soul Dew… for… that…?_

Oh, my God! I forgot about the Soul Dew! I had to do some fancy Latias yoga in order to look at the triangle symbol on my chest. The blue spot that indicated that I had the Soul Dew was gone!

_What happened to the Soul Dew?!_

Latios sighed and looked to his right. The Soul Dew was on a pedestal nearby and locked up in a glass case. I tried to reach for it with my psychic powers, but my mind was clouded for some reason. I couldn't think straight.

_What's going on? Why can't I use my powers?_

_Tetra's mind-scrambling collars. See?_ He toyed with a metal collar around his neck. I felt around my own neck and felt the same thing.

_Humans are _so_ cruel to creatures like us!_ I said, outraged.

_They're not all bad,_ said Latios. _Latios told me that what I did to try to save his sister _was_ the bravest thing he had ever seen from a human._

_Huh._

Our conversation was interrupted when a man in a black suit entered the room. He looked well-groomed and well-built. Something about this man told me that he was the big-boss-man of the Tetra Company.

"So, they finally managed to capture the two of you. That's quite fortunate since we need the two of you and this…" He tapped the case that contained the Soul Dew. "…in order to find the rest of you."

I couldn't help it. _There are more of us?_

The man smiled. "Not of your species, but there are several more creatures of your… how shall I say it… "status" that would help us realize our "ideal".

_Who are they? _asked Latios. _How do you know about them?_

"Our research department is quite highly-funded. But that's not important. The important thing is that we need your help in order to find them."

_We'd _never_ help you!_ said the both of us at the same time.

The man chuckled and pressed a button on a control panel nearby. "I'm afraid that you don't have a choice in the matter. Now, rest your little heads; we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

A sweet-smelling gas entered our chambers, making the both of us very sleepy. I tried to stay awake, but my eyes slowly shut and I knew no more.

The next thing I knew was that Latios and I were being escorted up the stairs of the museum that housed the World Revolution. Latios was still out cold and we had both been covered with a less-painful net of energy.

Once inside the museum, we were placed on a pair of pads that had our names inscribed in stone on them. I watched as the man in the black suit stepped up to the pedestal to place the Soul Dew and activate the machine. I knew that if that machine was activated, something _bad_ was going to happen.

Suddenly, my will to fight took over. My mind was racing with determination and power. It was so powerful that the band around my neck began to go haywire and eventually snapped.

"What the-?!" The man noticed me struggling and barked at the two girls that had carried us in. "Stop it before it ruins everything!"

The girls approached me with stun guns but were unprepared for the powerful wave of psychic energy that radiated from me knocking them back. Latios was waking up and saw me break free of the energy net and take to the air.

_Latias…?_

_Brother! I'm coming!_

I was about to mentally snap his collar when the pad underneath him started glowing. I looked at the man and saw that he had activated the World Revolution by placing the Soul Dew in its pedestal.

_That's impossible! How did you…?!_

"Even with just _one_ of you, this machine is still operational!" The man laughed and the machine lowered its cockpit for him to get in.

I turned my attention back to Latios to see that he was now levitating in the air and the machine was drawing his power from him in order to work.

_Latias, go! Find Lugia before it's too late!_

_Lugia? Who…?_

_Altomar's _true_ Guardian! Hurry!_

I needed no second bidding. I quickly left the building just as the doorway sealed up with a metallic mesh. From what I could tell, the man I now knew as Giovanni was sealing up the city using the World Revolution. Every street and road was being blocked off with unusual metal caging. Fortunately, the water routes were left alone, so I took to those instead.

I had _no_ idea who this "Lugia" was or where I could find him, but I decided to trust my instincts on this one. Unfortunately, I had to move fast, because time was against me on this one.

After some quick scanning of the waterways of Altomar, I found what appeared to be a large, stone hole in the center of the city where a powerful current was constantly pushing water out into the city. Since I was a decent swimmer, I took a deep breath and plunged into the current.

I could see why it was well-guarded; no human being would have been able to swim against the forces of the current that was pushing against me. Thankfully, some unseen force allowed me to swim through the current and into the black void.

Where was I? The area that I had entered looked exactly like Altomar except that when I resurfaced, I noticed that it was _not_ Altomar as I remembered it. The sky was dark and it appeared that the moon was shining instead of the sun. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I quickly changed to my human form… and received a shock. I normally had bright clothes and dark hair, but this time I had dark clothes and bright hair. It was as if I had become the reverse of what I normally am.

That wasn't the only thing that had been reversed; the people walking in the streets were wearing the exact opposite colors of the ones I remembered seeing. The water in the canals was colored green instead of the normal blue.

Wait a minute… If things were reversed in world, then…?

I quickly ran in the direction of the museum that I had escaped from on the other side. I was surprised to see that the streets weren't sealed off like they were in the other world.

When I got there I was surprised to see… nothing! The World Revolution on this side hadn't been activated and there was no Latios or Giovanni, reverse or otherwise, to be seen. In fact, instead of the World Revolution, there was a massive statue of a massive bird-like creature in its place.

I looked up at this statue with interest. It was mostly hidden in the darkness of the black lights, but I had a feeling that this bird-creature was the legendary Lugia that Latios had told me about. Through the black light, I could make out a massive creature standing on two digitigrade legs with two massive flipper-like "wings" held high above its head.

Any further detail was obstructed b the poor quality of the light in this room. However, the people touring the museum seemed to see it quite normally because they had no problem navigating the darkened room.

I then spotted a pedestal that housed an orb similar to the Soul Dew behind a glass case. The writing around the pedestal said, "In case of _extreme_ emergency: break glass."

I figured that the situation on the other side of the world was a case of "extreme emergency", so I figured I had nothing to lose. Making sure that everyone had left, I turned back to my true form and focused my powers on the glass. My thoughts resonated through the room and were focused into a single psychic beam, which shattered the glass. Making sure that no one had heard the glass breaking, I removed the black-flamed Soul Dew and…

Nothing happened.

There was probably more to it because I soon noticed a notch in the bird-creature statue's base. Floating over, I put the Soul Dew in the notch.

Almost immediately, the ground began rumbling and shaking. I instinctively tried to remove the Soul Dew, but it was wedged firmly in place. I let out a cry of fear because I felt as if I had just doomed this world.

However, I saw that the Lugia statue was chipping away to reveal a flesh-and-blood creature underneath.

Bit by bit the stone flaked off the creature like it was shedding its topmost coat. As the last of its rock coat fell away, the silver-white-colored creature started to move.

I had never seen such a beautiful creature as Lugia before now. It had the most flawless, smooth, rubbery skin that I had ever seen before. Its massive, round torso had a sky-blue belly on it. It stood on two three-toed, digitigrade legs. I could see it flexing its long, thick flexible tail that was tipped with two navy-blue spikes. Along Lugia's spine were ten navy-blue rectangular plates that I guessed were used while it was in the air to collect air.

Its wings were indeed like massive flippers with five, flat "fingers" on the ends of them. I saw Lugia tuck them at its sides like a bird after stretching them out. At the end of a long, smooth neck was a point-tipped head with a pointed, navy-blue "mask" around each of its kind, dark-blue eyes. Its "beak" was more of a muzzle and jaw with two sharp teeth on the top and bottom jaws.

Lugia let out a musical cry that sounded like a cross between an angel's voice and a ghost's wail. I could only think of a single, slightly outrageous word:

_Father…?_

Lugia looked down at me with his kind, blue eyes. Compared to his 17-foot frame, I felt like a little kid looking up at its parent for the first time.

_Latias… my loving daughter._ He also spoke in a psychic voice. Y_ou have grown up since I last saw you._

His voice sounded so relaxing that I thought of the trouble Latios was in and went over to hug him.

_Oh… Father! I'm so sorry! I tried to save him! I tried to stop them! But I couldn't do it!_

Lugia put a massive wing around me and patted my back.

_I know why you have come. The World Revolution has been activated, yes?_

_Y-y-yes! I tried to stop them, but they still have Latios! He sent me to find you before the world was destroyed._

_There, there. All will be right soon._ He stepped down from the pedestal where he stood and released me. _Come… let us return to the Positive World._

My memory went white again and I blacked out for the third time.

When Father and I arrived back in the Positive World, I noticed that the water had been drained from the canals in the city.

_What's going on?_ I asked him. _Where's all the water?_

_The World Revolution is in full motion,_ said Father, looking to the dark, cloudy sky. _Chaos has been unleashed on the world._

_No…_ It didn't seem possible. _I was too late._

_No, it is not your fault. Evil is the real culprit here._

Suddenly, my mind was invaded by a familiar presence. My eyes glowed and a scene was projected into the area. Latios was using our Sight Sharing ability. We were looking at the World Revolution in action. Giovanni was adjusting the controls to trigger a global flood by melting the ice caps to the north and south. We could see two humans, an old man and a girl, in a cage in the corner of the room trying to convince us to open our eyes. Now that we had, we could tell Lugia where we were so that he could help us stop the World Revolution.

"Latias!" came the old man's shouts. "If you can hear us, find Lugia! Giovanni is out of control and he's planning to destroy the world! Hurry up and shut down the machine before it's too late!"

We were in too much pain to keep our eyes open and our minds separated again. When I looked up at Lugia, he looked grave.

_Follow me, Latias. I have a way to stop that machine._

He took to the air and I followed right behind him all the way to the museum. I noticed that Lugia was more of a flier than a levitator, so he had to flap his wings… but not very much. He could cut through the air like I could just by adjusting the position of his wings, neck and tail.

"Well, well," sneered Giovanni from inside the World Revolution. "That didn't take long at all. All I had to do was threaten the world and look who comes running."

_You…? All you wanted was Lugia?!_ I couldn't believe my ears. _You threatened the planet just so you can capture our father?!_

_This has happened before, Latias,_ said Lugia, seemingly unconcerned. _I know how to handle this._

"We'll see about that!"

Giovanni moved the cockpit of the World Revolution to face Lugia. The machine then started whirring as a charge started building. It looked as if it was powering up to attack him! However, Lugia looked straight at the machine unflinchingly. When the machine was charged up, Giovanni fired directly at his heart! I couldn't watch!

When I looked back, I saw that Lugia had taken the full force of the attack… and had focused it into a single orb of energy in his mouth.

_Bad move, Giovanni,_ said Lugia. _It's time that I shut down the World Revolution… FOR GOOD!!!_

With a flick of his head, Lugia released the energy directly into the heart of the World Revolution. It was like a blast of concentrated wind; "Aeroblast" is what my instincts told me it was. The machine overloaded and exploded with a _boom_! Giovanni's cockpit crashed to the floor and he was ejected from it.

After all these years, the World Revolution was finally put out of commission.

_Latios!_ I drifted over to my brother who had been released when the machine had been destroyed. He was in pretty bad shape, but his injuries were more energy-based than body-based – he'd recover in due time.

"Latios! Latias!" The old man and the girl came running to our side to make sure that we were okay. The old man looked at Latios and checked his heart rate. "He'll be okay; he just needs some rest."

_La… tias?_ said Latios, managing to open his eyes and look at us. _Fa… ther?_

_Rest now, Latios, _said Lugia, walking over to us. _You have gone through a great ordeal. We will watch over you while you recover._

We were so concerned with Latios that we failed to notice Giovanni heading in the direction of the Soul Dew until it was too late. The blue flame inside had turned a black color.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!!!" said Lugia and the old man at the same time.

The Soul Dew exploded into a wave of violet energy at Giovanni's touch and the ground began to quake. All hell had broken loose!

"This is not good," said the girl, running outside. "The world is falling apart!"

The rest of us followed her and saw, to our horror that the water in the city had disappeared and dried up.

_The oceans are gathering up for a grand flood,_ said Lugia with a grave voice. _We must stop it and rebuild the Soul Dew before it's all over._

_What do we have to do?_ I asked him.

_I…_ Lugia was at a loss for words. _I have never had to face this before. The world is out of balance. I have failed to prevent this disaster._ He hung his head in defeat.

_No… We can still… stop this…_ Latios was fighting overwhelming fatigue. _I am bound to the Soul Dew… and only I can repair it._

_What are you saying?!_ I didn't want to believe it.

Latios looked at me square in the eyes and sighed. _I'm sorry, sister… Father… but my destiny must be fulfilled._

He flew off into the air with the rest of us watching below.

_Father…_ I turned to Lugia. _Should we stop him?_

_No, Latias… his time has come._

Latios flew high above the city and faced the ocean. Every last drop of water had receded from the city and the floor of the ocean was exposed. Far away, a 300-foot tidal wave was gathering to wipe Altomar off the map. I could only watch as he flew off to confront the deadly wave.

As the wave came into view, Latios began to glow a bright blue and turn into a spirit-like form.

_Latios…_

Just before the wave reached him, Latios sacrificed his remaining energy and exploded into a wall of energy. The light absorbed the force of the wave and the ocean filled in as the water came crashing down. The energy field then spread out over the world like a blanket. I could feel his presence as if he was standing right next to me and so could the rest of the world. Latios' life force then began to draw the evil and chaos of the world into a single point high above us like a giant vacuum. I could see a vortex appear in the sky and draw the evil into it.

Soon, the energy was concentrated enough for the vortex to vanish and a single light appeared in the sky. I knew that that light was a brand new Soul Dew and it was also the soul of Latias. The Soul Dew then descended down into the city and disappeared from view.

It was over.

I wept freely and Lugia put a wing on my shoulder. I let out a cry of sorrow while I cried into my father's chest. _I-it's not f-f-fair! I just m-m-met him and he had to d-die! I never got to get to know h-him as a brother!_

_Some who live deserve death,_ said Lugia, a note of sadness in his voice. _And most who die deserve life. It is sad that fate seems to intervene in our life at the most inconvenient of times, but it is something we must all accept._ Every word he spoke was the truth.

_It's still not fair!_

The old man from the museum came up to me and took my hand.

"Brian has endured much more than you realize, Terra. I was there when Latios passed his form onto him. Brian was always selfless and caring for others; he did what he had to to save the planet."

I let out a soft purr and looked at the man. _Did you… call me "Terra"?_

"I did." The old man nodded his head. "It's been written in stone that the legacy of Latias and Latios would pass themselves onto two humans one day to continue their legacy. You should consider your new life a blessing."

I thought about this for a while. I didn't have to worry about worries of my human life. A whole new existence was being laid out before me. I might as well start adjusting to the years ahead of me; there would certainly be a lot of them to come.

Suddenly, I felt a familiar presence in my head. My eyes became miniature TV screens again and a vision was projected into the surrounding area. Latios was using our Sight Sharing ability again! But how could he do that now? Regardless, Lugia and the humans around me looked on in awe as we looked down from outer space at the planet Earth.

"Latios is showing us his journey to the afterlife!" cried the teenage girl that had been with the old man. "He's speaking to us from the other side!"

Earth was getting smaller as Latios and I drifted farther and farther away. Soon, all we could see was stars, nebulas and galaxies. Heaven was obviously farther away from here than any of us realized because soon there was nothing but a white void before us.

Just then, a single round object appeared before us. It looked like a large egg with Latios' colors on it. It hovered in nothingness until the picture suddenly came into focus. The egg was lying in a pool of water in what appeared to be the garden where Latios had been captured.

_Latios has left us his spirit inside this egg,_ said Lugia. _He found a way to keep the balance of the world in check._

Tears came to our eyes as we realized that a Latios was still on earth. As we looked up from the pool, we saw that the new Soul Dew was on a pedestal nearby.

And then the vision ended.

I couldn't believe it! My brother was still alive… in a way.

"I'll race you there, Grandpa!" The girl took off with her grandfather trailing behind him.

I turned to Lugia. _What will you do, Father? The world is at peace again and the World Revolution is destroyed._

Lugia raised his head up to the skies. _I think I will take back my rightful spot as "Guardian of the Sea". It's been so long since I governed the world that I might have some cleaning up to do. _He then looked at me._ Good-bye, Latias. Take care of young Latios and come visit me sometime. I certainly welcome the company._

I waved good-bye as Lugia sprang into the air and disappeared into the ocean. I hovered there for a moment and then changed back into my human form. The people of Altomar would be waking up soon and I didn't want to draw attention to myself.

Some time later, I was helping raise the reincarnated version of my brother, Latios. He was always getting into trouble around our garden and I had to chase him down in the city on numerous occasions. It was as if our roles had been reversed – Latios was the troublemaker and I was the strict rule-follower.

Once he grew up, though, he was the same Latios that he always was. He would scour the city and we would Sight Share from time to time. Every so often, we would play pranks on the boaters in the city by getting under them while invisible and turn them completely around!

The old man, named "Jacob", and his granddaughter, named Karen, were the only humans that we dared show our true forms to. However, once in a while I would seek out trustworthy people and bring them back to our garden. Latios doesn't really like me letting our secret out like that. Fortunately, they kept their mouths shut about us and visit us in secret.

You're probably wondering what happened to Giovanni and Lugia, right? I secretly delivered Giovanni to the Altomar City Prison after tracking him down several days after the Soul Dew incident. He's been locked up ever since and the Tetra organization has been disbanded. Lugia, on the other hand, has taken his rightful spot as the "Water's Great Guardian". He protects the oceans and the skies from any evil or chaos that threatens them. Somehow, he's managed to keep his status at "Legendary". He does a better job of remaining hidden that Latios and I do! That's probably because my brother and I are always playing pranks on the city of Altomar.

Ever since my life changed that day, I've looked at life a little differently. I realized that one individual can change the entire fate of the world; it just depends on what you do in that position that tips the balance of nature in either direction. I was once human like you, but I was given a great gift. And that gift is what changed the world to what it is today.

My name is Latias… and this is my story.

**END**

Get the other side of the story in "Unsung Heroes Blue Version: Latios Story".


End file.
